1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a personal watercraft (also called a PWC) that planes along the surface of the water and, more particularly, to a bulkhead structure for the personal watercraft.
2. Description of Related Art
Personal watercraft have been gaining popularity in recent years for sports and recreational purposes. Generally, the personal watercraft is constructed to move forward by increasing the pressure of water drawn through a water intake, provided on a bottom of the body of the watercraft, by a propulsion pump and ejecting the water rearward from the body.
In order to enhance the motion performance of the personal watercraft, it is necessary to reduce the weight thereof. Moreover, wave cutting ability should be improved to enhance comfort for the operator and any passengers on the personal watercraft and to reduce fuel consumption. In order to improve the wave cutting ability of the personal watercraft, it is desirable that the rigidity of an outer shell of the body is high.
When the personal watercraft travels over waves, the bottom of the body receives a water pressure from the waves. The water pressure is transmitted to a handlebar. Consequently, an operator can feel the magnitude of the water pressure by means of the handlebar. The water pressure that the operator feels depends on the rigidity of the outer shell of the body. In a case where the rigidity of the outer shell of the body is high, the outer shell of the body is less deformed when the bottom of the body receives the water pressure from the waves. Consequently, the bottom of the body easily forces the water pressure away to both sides. More specifically, the water cutting ability can be improved so that any riders are comfortable without greatly feeling the water pressure received by the bottom of the body.
The outer shell of the body of the personal watercraft comprises a member provided on a bottom side which is in contact with the water and is referred to as a hull, and a member which covers an upper side of the hull and is referred to as a deck. If thicknesses of these members are reduced, the weight of the personal watercraft can be reduced so that the motion performance thereof can also be enhanced. However, the reduction in the thicknesses of these members causes the rigidity of the outer shell of the body to deteriorate. As a result, the wave cutting ability is degraded.
Accordingly, the hull and the deck require certain minimal thicknesses. For this reason, a reduction in the weight of the personal watercraft is limited.
In most personal watercraft, the inside spaces of the bodies, particularly, the inside spaces of the bow portion are rarely utilized effectively. For example, a storage area or compartment is formed in a part of the space or a buoyancy member is provided therein. However, most of the space is not used but is left as it is. Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 7-45421 discloses the related art.